It’s almost six months since my last post. I’m sharing some photos from our not-so-recent trip to Perlis, north-end state bordering Thailand. We were there at the end of May to send our daughter to matriculation college in Arau. Photos below were taken as we left Perlis. Except for some shots taken at the college ground, we did not take many snap-shots of Perlis as there were not much time for us to tour round the state. We planned to head for Padang Besar after leaving our daughter at the college. We drove through Chuping..Malaysia’s largest producer of sugar. But saw only empty plains. There was no sugarcane in sight. They’ve probably chopped down all the crops and send them to the factory… ha..ha.. just kidding.

Vast empty plain are kind of alien to us. We commonly see plains of paddy fields or pass through palm oil plantations elsewhere in Malaysia but theses are not common.

In Padang Besar, we hoped to do some shopping at the duty-free shopping complex. We drove for almost 40 km only to discover that the complex at the borders are closed at 6 in the evening much to our disappointment. But luckily some shops and eatery outside the complex are opened. Padang Besar is just a small border town. There are both of Malaysia and Thailand here. Both currency are accepted. Asam manis or sugar-coated tamarind, pickled fruit, different types of rice such as fragrant rice, glutinous rice or black glutinous rice and fresh fruits like mangoes and guavas are among the popular items that local tourists like us will bring back home. Items like good grade rice are difficult to be found elsewhere at a good price. So we packed home some before going back to our home-stay in Kangar. We left Kangar the next day, making a turn into Penang Island on a ferry.

This is the holiday awaited by my kids.. a good splash by the sea-side. They really enjoyed themselves, while mom (me) thoughts flew to the daughter she left behind in Arau. I missed her then and still misses her now.

This is Feringghi Beach. Just a short stretch left for public picnickers. The other stretches are private beaches taken up by hotels, apartments and resorts.